NLC Escalates FCTA Crisis, Directs Affiliate Unions to Join Strike
The industrial crisis rocking the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) took a more severe turn on Saturday as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threw its full weight behind the striking workers, directing all its affiliate unions in the FCT to join the industrial action.
In a strongly worded statement released on Friday and signed by its President, Joe Ajaero, the NLC declared total solidarity with the Joint Unions Action Congress (JUAC).
He described their indefinite strike as a “heroic response” to what it termed a “vicious cocktail of neoliberal attacks” by the FCTA management and its political leadership.
The Congress announced an escalation of the dispute, mandating all affiliate unions in the nation’s capital to align fully with the FCTA workers.
Additionally, the NLC mobilized workers to storm the National Industrial Court on Monday, January 26, where the court is scheduled to hear the suit filed by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, seeking to halt the strike.
Ajaero accused the FCTA administration of “capitalist exploitation and bureaucratic oppression,” citing specific grievances that validated the workers’ decision to down tools.
He highlighted the illegal withholding of five months’ wage awards and promotion arrears, describing it not as an administrative error but as a “brazen denial of workers’ legitimate earnings.”
The labour leader further alleged acts of “economic sabotage,” pointing to the non-remittance of pension contributions and National Housing Fund deductions since May 2025.
According to the NLC, these actions threaten to condemn retired workers to a future of destitution.
The statement also condemned the alleged “fascistic tactics” employed by the FCTA management, including bans on phone usage and the reported incarceration of workers, which the NLC viewed as attempts to silence dissent and cripple solidarity.
Adopting the slogan “Your struggle is our struggle,” Ajaero warned the FCT authorities that the patience of the working class had been exhausted.
He asserted that any victory for the FCTA workers would be a victory for every exploited worker in Nigeria, signaling that the labour movement is prepared to resist any form of intimidation through the judicial process.
